The present invention relates to the waste disposal industry. More particularly, the invention relates to an improvement in the use of specialized vehicles for the transport of standard waste disposal containers.
The waste management field has been standardized with regard to commercial waste disposal containers. The two most common types of containers are the roll-off container and the front-load container. The roll-off container is larger and typically used for large volumes of waste, such as construction debris, commercial and industrial refuse, bulk items, and the like. The front-load container is smaller and typically used for garbage, restaurant waste, packing materials, retail waste, and other refuse. The industry has also specialized with regard to the type of vehicle used to transport these waste disposal containers. A roll-off truck is specially designed to transport roll-off containers between the site where they are filled and a disposal site, and a front-load container truck is specially designed to transport front-load containers between the site where they are filled and a disposal site.
A roll-off truck has a tilting, flat bed and a hoisting mechanism, usually involving a winch and cable but alternatively involving a hydraulic arm, which is used to engage a roll-off container, or some other similar device. The bed incorporates rollers to facilitate the movement of a roll-off container over its surface. The rollers are recessed below the surface of the bed, and are designed to accommodate wheels or rails located on the underside of roll-off containers. See FIG. 1.
A roll-off container is typically constructed of a rigid metal material to standardized dimensions in a substantially rectangular configuration, formed of a bottom floor and four upwardly depending side walls and an open top, with a front to back length exceeding the side to side width. The roll-off container is designed with wheels or parallel rails on the underside of the bottom floor suitable for cooperative rolling engagement with the rollers on the beds of roll-off trucks. Roll-off containers are further designed with standard attachment fittings affixed to their front walls enabling them to be engaged by the hoisting mechanism of the roll-off truck. These attachment fittings are typically a hook or prong, over which a looped end of a cable may be placed, or a bar engageable by a hydraulic arm. Other attachment fitting designs are also used.
To load a roll-off container, the roll-off truck is backed up to the roll-off container, the bed of the roll-off truck is tilted, the hoisting mechanism is engaged with the attachment fitting of the roll-off container, and the roll-off container is drawn towards and onto the tilted truck bed. Then the bed is returned to a horizontal orientation for transporting the roll-off container. See FIG. 1. To unload the roll-off container, the truck bed is tilted and the hoisting mechanism is reversed, whereby the roll-off container slides downward and rearward off the truck bed.
A front-load container truck is smaller than a roll-off truck, and does not have a tilting bed. Rather, it comprises a lifting mechanism affixed to the rear of the truck, having a pair of hydraulically moveable, rearward depending parallel lifting arms which are used to engage a front-load container. See FIG. 2.
Front-load containers are typically constructed of a rigid metal material to standardized dimensions in a substantially rectangular configuration, formed of a bottom floor, four upwardly depending side walls, and a closed top. The front-load container is designed with a pair of standard lift fittings enabling them to be engaged by the lifting arms of the front-load container truck. These lift fittings are typically a pair of parallel sleeves affixed laterally to the sides of the front-load container, or integrated therewith. They may also be laterally depending flanges or other structures adapted to accommodate the lifting arms of the lifting mechanism of the front-load container truck.
To load a front-load container, the front-load container truck is backed up to the front-load container, the parallel lifting arms are hydraulically positioned so as to align with the lift fittings of the front-load container and then inserted therein (either by hydraulic extension or by the truck backing up), and then the lifting arms are hydraulically positioned to lift the front-load container, typically at a forward angle to prevent the front-load container from sliding off the lifting arms during transport. The front-load container is then transported by the front-load container truck. See FIG. 2. To unload the front-load container, the lifting arms are angled and lowered until the front-load container is placed onto a surface, and then the lifting arms are withdrawn from the lift fittings of the front-load container.
As is evident from the foregoing descriptions, the specially designed trucks for transporting the different types of waste disposal containers are incompatible with each other. A roll-off truck cannot transport a front-load container (unless another vehicle, such as a fork lift, is used to lift the front-load container onto and off of the bed of the roll-off truck), and a front-load container truck cannot be used to transport a roll-off container. Thus, a waste disposal company employing both types of waste disposal containers would need to have both types of specialized trucks. This results in great expense and inefficiency of operation with a corresponding economic burden on waste management fleets.
The prior art fails to solve this incompatibility problem. The art is replete with innovations in either roll-off containers and their corresponding trucks, or front-load containers and their corresponding trucks. However, there has never been addressed the problem of using a single standard vehicle for transporting both types of waste disposal containers. What is needed is a device that adapts a single truck for use with both standard types of waste disposal containers. The present invention satisfies this need by providing an adapter device for use with a standard roll-off truck that allows a standard roll-off truck to lift and transport a standard front-load container as well as a standard roll-off container.
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide an adapter device for use with a standard roll-off truck that allows a standard roll-off truck to lift and transport a standard front-load container.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide an adapter device for use with a standard roll-off truck that obviating the need for a specialized front-load container truck or for a secondary assist vehicle, such as a fork lift, for lifting and transporting standard front-load containers.
It is yet a further objective of the present invention to provide an adapter device for use with a standard roll-off truck which is simple to attach to and remove from a standard roll-off truck.
It is yet a further objective of the present invention to provide an adapter device for use with a standard roll-off truck which requires no modification to a standard roll-off truck.
It is yet a further objective of the present invention to provide an adapter device for use with a standard roll-off truck which securely attaches a front-load container to a standard roll-off truck during transport.
It is yet a further objective of the present invention to provide an adapter device for use with a standard roll-off truck which is simple to manufacture.
It is yet a further objective of the present invention to provide an adapter device for use with a standard roll-off truck which is relatively inexpensive to purchase and own.
It is yet a further objective of the present invention to provide an adapter device for use with a standard roll-off truck that improves the efficiencies of a waste disposal truck fleet by allowing a single type of truck to handle both roll-off containers and front-load containers.
It is yet a further objective of the present invention to provide an adapter device for use with a standard roll-off truck that reduces the environmental impact of waste disposal vehicles by allowing said adapter device to remain at a waste collection site along with a front -load container for use by a standard roll-off truck without necessitating a return to a centralized location to procure same or to exchange the vehicle for a specialized front-load container truck.
Other objectives of this invention will be evident from the following disclosure.